Chapters:

Charlotte looked around the room calmly, nodding at Naomi when
their eyes met. As Charlotte continued to look around the room, a
sudden movement caught her eye and she looked back at Naomi to
see her looking anxious, shaking her head quickly. She raised her
head slightly, trying to get a better idea of who Naomi was
speaking to when a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders, hot
breath in her ear.

"Hello, beautiful." A low, husky voice whispered, and Charlotte
exclaimed in disgust and moved the arms away from her shoulders,
not bothering to turn and see who it was.

"Andrew, please, I am really not in the mood tonight." She said
flatly, and Andrew chuckled and sat down opposite her at the
table.

"In a bad mood, are we?" He asked, and Charlotte rolled her eyes
and handed him the letter she had received from him earlier. He
took a moment to open it and skim through it until he realized
that it was his letter, and he scoffed and tucked it into his
jacket pocket.

"Didn't like it? I personally considered it a magnificent use of
words on my part." He said in a posh tone, acting insulted.

"Give it up, Andrew. I am always kind to my admirers but you,
Andrew, are an exception because I loathe you and I want nothing
to do with a boy like you." Her words with calm, yet filled with
hatred as she spoke. For a moment a flicker of hurt crossed
Andrew's face before his familiar cocky expression returned. He
stood up, beginning to walk past her before leaning down to
whisper in her ear,

"Well, you're just going to have to deal with me, princess."

Charlotte ignored his words and let him leave, searching the
crowd again to find Naomi. She was nowhere to be seen. Charlotte
swore under her breath and stood up to search for her when she
heard Mr Rhodes' voice booming from the front of the room. She
turned her head, locking eyes with Mr Rhodes. They stared at
eachother for a moment before Mr Rhodes smirked, looking away and
continuing his speech. Charlotte raised her eyebrows and turned
her body to face the front, watching him contently.

"As you all know, this evening has been dedicated to a very old
friend of mine who passed away eight years ago. He was one of my
closest friends and his family still mourns him to this day."

Charlotte resisted the urge to laugh out loud, staring at Mr
Rhodes with an undeniable hatred. She could feel the eyes of the
crowd on her but ignored them, continuing to stare straight
forward.

"Charles Wendtworth," He boomed loudly, causing everyone to look
back at him quickly. "A friend, a husband...and a father."

He took the time to glance at her when he said those last words,
and she glared back at him.

"His wife, Mrs Rose Wendtworth, could not be here with us tonight
due to a few small issues, but we have Charles' daughter,
Charlotte Wendtworth, to say a few words."

Charlotte began making my way through the crowd until she reached
the front, taking the microphone from Mr Rhodes' hand without
even a glance his way.

"My father was, as most say, an incredible man. I cannot deny
that as father and daughter we had our differences, but he was
always there for me even through my toughest times." Charlotte
paused then, looking around the crowd and still not seeing Naomi
anywhere. She locked eyes with Andrew though, and he winked,
blowing her a mocking kiss as he leaned against the wall at the
back of the room.

"With his passing came sadness and grief, which still has not
left me to this day. There is a part of me that is missing, and
that is a father. But also in his passing came an extreme
fortune- the money he made from his job was passed on to my
mother and I, and it warms my heart to know that we are still
moving up in life together."

At that moment she noticed people in the crowd begin murmuring,
but she cleared my throat and continued, raising her voice to get
their attention back.

"It is a true shame that my mother could not be here tonight, but
this gives me the chance to talk about her." She took an
unnecessary pause, becoming frustrated as more and more people
started whispering to eachother.

"My mother, Rose Wendtworth, is a stunning woman. She has aged
with grace and is still as healthy and happy as ever," She could
hear the tone of her voice changing to one of annoyance, but as
her voice trailed off she saw parts of the crowd begin to leave
the room.

"And it makes me, Charlotte Wendtworth...proud to be...her
daughter." Charlotte saw a movement beside her and turned her
head to see Mr Rhodes adjusting his tie and walking away, taking
a frozen Mrs Rhodes with him. As Charlotte studied Mrs Rhodes'
expression more closely, she noticed that tears were streaming
down her face and a sudden worry filled her and caused a lump in
her throat. She looked around as people began piling out of the
room, and she could hear incredible sobbing outside the ballroom.
Eventually the only person still inside was Andrew, still leaning
against the back wall. His face was pale and he gulped as
Charlotte walked over to him quickly, demanding what was going on
and why everyone was leaving the room.

She expected him to laugh and say something sarcastic like, they
were all bored of her speech, but he just shook his head, a look
of sympathy filling his eyes.

"Charlotte, I am so, so sorry." He said quietly, and she raised
her hand to slap him when she froze, seeing a glimpse of the
scene outside. Flashes of red and blue could be seen and the
sobbing she heard was almost unbearable.

She slowly walked past Andrew, confused as to what was going on.
Was someone hurt? Then Mr Rhodes came into view, speaking to a
man in a blue suit, and she sped up her pace, a sudden anger
filling her.

I bet he caused this on purpose just so he could embarrass me
in front of all these people, Charlotte thought furiously,
stalking out of the ballroom and into the icy air outside.

"Dean!" She yelled furiously, and he turned his head to look at
her, which was when she slowed down and confusion filled her
mind. Mr Rhodes was crying.

The man in the blue suit stepped forward, and she noticed the
gold star badge he wore on his jacket.

"Ma'am, you need to come with us." He said sternly, reaching for
her arm. Charlotte moved away, turning to look at Mr Rhodes when
she saw it.

The ambulance, loading a stretcher into it- and even through the
crowd of people she could just make out the pair of eyes staring
at her.

Time seemed to slow down as she stared at the body being loaded
into the ambulance, trying to understand what was going on before
it hit her and she got out a choked whisper,